Improvement in gates for water-wheels



IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

ELIJAH ROBERTS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW' HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN GATES FOR WATER-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,726, dated April 4,1854.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern;

Be it, known that I, ELIJAH ROBERTS, of Rochester, in the county ofStratford and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and ImprovedVVater-Wheel with the Adjustable Safety-Chute; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings and letters ofreference thereon, making a part of this specification.

I am aware it is no new thing the attempt by various devices to regulateand advantageously control the water when applied to the periphery ofwheels on a Avertical shaft; but

l hitherto practicaldifliculties have developed themselves in theprosecution of my business as a millwright for the past twenty years, towhich I will briefly advert. ln those where the flow of water has beenregulated by rising and falling gates there is a manifestlyimproperchange effected in the change of form of the sheet of water when appliedto the vane or wings serving as buckets of the wheel, as, instead ofbeing introduced in a vertical sheet, by which its percussion would notbe eected, it is thrown on the varies in a flat or horizontal directionand changes its form, spending part ot' its force in froth or foam. Inthose inventions apparently conflicting more directly with myimprovement, although this evil is avoided by preserving the verticalsheet of water, yet, from an oversight in avoiding liability of accidentfrom either change of form of the rim carrying the several chutes. orfrom the great liability of obstruction from small sticks or stonespassing the gate at all times, or of pieces of ice formed in the curb orreservoir, which in passing through the chutes become lodged or jammedin any one of them, it necessarily keeps all open; or it one chute isclosed when thus obstructed by violence it is done at the `expense ofbreakage of the mechanism actuating the whole set of chutes ordivisions.

By my improvement in the construction of the wheel, by placing thecurved vanes in intimate relation to the direction of the water.

from the chute, I have a decided advantage even in this respect overthose adverted to, as in mine the direct action is obtained; but more sowhen it is taken into consideration that all liability'ot accident tothe control and regulation of wateron the wheel is. unaffected. This atrst glance might seem a matter of little consequence; but when theadvantage is thought of, of being at all times and under allcircumstances able to control the quantity of water admitted on thewheel, it is an iniport-ant consideration if the work or power ot' thewheel is thought of, and therefore the avoidance of accident to themajor number of the chutes will be appreciated. Thus in factories wherethe work varies fifty per cent., and at times when it is desirable toeconomize the water, as in -dry seasons, the loss of water byobstructions to the closing of the chutes is a serious matter. By themeans I have now presented the mill has not to be stopped, the waterdrawn from the curb, or the obstruction removed before the difficulty'will be abated.

The nature of my invention consists in the arrangement ofthe devices bywhich the water has an advantageous direction given it in passingthrough the adjustable chute, combined with the sliding rods for openingthe chutes or the divisions constituting the chute;

'also in the mode of hanging these divisions on a fixed rod passingloosely through the chutes, by which means the clamping of them isavoided when the bolts holding the rims together are tightened; and,furthermore, in the device for simultaneously opening these chutes by anannular ring, gear, dac. It is to be understood there is no difficultyof the chutes closing. The water will do that when free fromobstruction.

Figure l represents abirds-eye view of the wheel, chutes, &c., with theupper rim removed; Fig, 2, a vertical cross-section- To enable othersskilled in the art'to construct the wheel and adjust the vanes, dac., Iwill proceed to describe it, as follows:

In the drawings, A A represent a wheel of the usual form, only observingthatthe curved vanes D D D should be so placed as to receive the directaction of the water from the chutesnintroduced on the periphery of thewheel. The wheel being a` center vent, of course the under side is openand the upper closed with a stationary cover, thus avoiding the weightof the water on the wheel. j

B is a vertical shaft; c c, rims sufficiently wide to retain thedivisions or chutes ct a between their edges. These chutes areperforated with a free hole through their thickness, in which thevertical rods b b pass (see Fig. 2) and upon Which they freely turn.

E E is an annular ring provided with cogs e e upon its outer peripheryonly on its opposite sides, as seen at Fig. l. In otherparts of the ringE E it is supported in position by entering grooves in the edges ofrollers F F,

being thus free to be actuated by a suitable y furnished either with ahead or screw-nut constituting ahead, the rod itself passing` freelythrougha hole in the outer end of the chute ct a, the intention being tov allow freedom of remaining open when' any one chute is obstructed, asthese rods only operate on the opening of the chute, the Water closingthem v sfhenthe rods are moved inward by the 11m.

The introduction of the Water into the curb is common to this Wheel, asothers; but its action on the chute and after passing through isessentially different, as has been set forth, andthemode of controllingthe quantity of Water admitted through the chutes is an importantypractical consideration.

What I'cl'aixn as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The arrangement of the rods D D, which are made to slide through thechutes or gates a a, so that all of the gates or chutes maybe openedsimultaneously or allowed to close by v the pressure of the water whennot obstructed by foreign obstacles, in the manner and for the purposeset forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine hereunto before twosubscribing Wit- I. W. PRAY, DANIEL J. PARSONS.

